A Man's Instinct
by Morty-Lives-Forever
Summary: After an incident, Eli tries to explain what goes on inside of a guy's mind when it comes to the girl he likes.


**AN: Hello again, my lovely fanfiction readers! I was asked in a review of my previous story **_**Eli Gets Protective**_** to continue writing. So I thought "What the heck!" and decided to write something else. Also, I would like to thank everyone who reviewed on my previous story. I appreciated the feedback and advice that was given. And if you haven't checked it out, please do! And review when you've finished! But anyway, on to the current story. It has a similar plot to **_**Eli Gets Protective**_** in a certain way, but will but quite different in many other ways. Well, I'm rambling. So on to the story!**

**Clare's POV**

"Yes, Alli, for the millionth time, I'm walking to The Dot right now!" I practically yelled into the phone. Alli had asked me to meet her at The Dot, saying that she had something important to tell me. Even though I'm going to get there about ten minutes early, she still felt the need to call me nearly ten times to make sure I was on my way.

As I arrived at The Dot a few minutes later, I saw Alli sitting at a table by the window, bouncing her leg up and down impatiently. I pulled the door open and walked inside, giving a slight wave to Peter. I made my way to the table, and as soon as I sat down, Alli instantly threw herself into the latest story of her life.

"Clare! I'm glad you finally made it! Listen, I need you to do me a favour. You know how I have a huge crush on Drew right? Well I overheard him talking to a group of his friends, and he said that he's going to be hanging out at the ravine today. And I need you to come with me." Alli said excitedly.

"Alli, if you're going to the ravine to see Drew, then why do I have to go with you?" I said. I wasn't exactly fond of the ravine, considering all of the bad, not to mention illegal, things that happen there.

"Look, I know that you don't like the ravine," Alli began, practically reading my mind. "But I need someone to go with me. I don't want to show up alone and Drew ending up ignoring me the entire time. I'd look completely idiotic. But if I had someone with me and Drew doesn't talk to me, at least I would be able to talk to someone and not look like a fool." Alli explained to me.

"But what about if Drew does talk to you? Then I'd be the one sitting there with no one to talk to, looking like an idiot." I said, trying to get out of going.

"Well, if Drew does come and talk to me, you can leave just as easily as you came. No harm done. So, I am begging you as your best friend, do this for me! In the name of love!" Alli practically yelled.

I quickly told Alli to quiet down, a slight blush on my face considering the fact that there were a few people staring at us.

"Okay, I'll go. But can I at least invite Adam or Eli, since you're going to be busy making kissy faces at Drew?" I teased her lightly.

Alli gave me a glare, but quickly responded.

"I don't think it'd be a good idea to invite Adam. Not that I have a problem with him or anything, but some of the people at the ravine aren't exactly too kind. I'm willing to bet that at least one person there would make a comment about his "situation"." Alli said, putting air quotes around the last word.

I immediately felt slightly stupid for not thinking of that myself, but quickly recovered.

"Well what about Eli? You and I both know that Eli wouldn't sit around while people tried to bully him. So he can come, right?" I asked Alli hopefully.

"Now Clare, the ravine has a reputation. Do you really think that if Eli knew about this, he'd be letting you go there without a fight? The ravine can be considered dangerous. He'd try to convince you not to go, and even if you insisted on going, he'd probably tie you up and put you in the back of Morty, taking you to a safe place far away from the ravine. Honestly, I don't see why you two don't get together. It's obvious that you guys like each other." Alli said, completely getting off topic.

"We're just friends, Alli." I said persistently.

"Sure, whatever you say, But we need to get going if we're going to make it there with plenty of time for me to catch Drew's attention." Alli said, standing up.

I sighed, but got up as well, and we both headed towards the door.

**At the Ravine: **

As we arrived at the ravine about twenty minutes later, I was already staring to regret my decision of giving into Alli's pleas. I could see a few guys off in the distance, smoking what looked to be pot. There was a van, the same one that I remember being here in my freshman year when Alli dragged me here to see Johnny. It still had foul language and dirty sayings written all over it, just as I remembered it, the only difference being that there seemed to be more writing on it.

As Alli and I walked over to the logs that were used as seats, we saw two guys, sitting there, laughing at a joke that one of them had just told. I recognized one of them as Reese, a guy who had said I was pretty at The Dot one day in my freshman year, after my mini transformation of wearing different clothes, and letting my hair down, quite literally.

I had no idea who the other one was, but I did vaguely remember seeing him at school a few times. Though I was slightly nervous, I seated myself upon a log, opposite of the two boys. Alli soon joined me, and the four of us made small talk for a few minutes, Reese glancing at me many times. Although if eventually grew slightly uncomfortable, I didn't say anything.

Soon enough, Drew arrived, and Alli immediately rose from her spot beside me to go talk to Drew. After a few minutes, I saw them get into a conversation, and took that as the queue that it was alright to leave.

I swiftly rose from my seat, eager to get away from the wandering eyes that Reese seemed to be giving his attention to me with. Just as I was about to leave, Reese stood up as well, and made his way over to me.

"Hey, think you can stay a bit longer, sugar?" Reese asked me.

"Uh, actually, I really need to be going. I have a lot of things to get done today." I said, hoping my excuse would make him leave.

"You sure? Stick around for a bit, I could show you a good time." He said with a wink. I quickly hid my look of distaste, and just as I was about to deny his offer again, another voice spoke up behind me.

"She said no, you idiot." I immediately recognized the voice. As I turned around, I was faced with none other than an angry looking Eli, and a timid looking Adam standing behind him.

"Eli, what are you doing here?" I asked, shocked. Though the question was directed towards Eli, Adam spoke for him.

"My mom called and told me that she needed Drew and I home ASAP. Since I was with Eli, I asked him to give me a ride here so I could pick up Drew." Adam said.

Eli was still standing there, glaring at Reese with a look that could kill. For some reason, Reese didn't seem to notice his glare though, and decided to aggregate Eli some more.

"You know, gothic freak, Clare can make decisions for herself. If she wants to have a good time, let her." Reese said with a perverted smile.

That seemed to be the last straw for Eli though, because the next thing I knew, Reese was on the ground with Eli above him, punching him repeatedly. Quickly, Adam and I both scrambled to pull Eli off of Reese. We all sat there for a few moments, Adam and I still holding on to Eli, though he had stopped struggling a few seconds ago, and Reese was laying on the ground while holding his nose which seemed to be gushing blood.

"Well, uh, I'm just going to go get Drew. Don't worry about giving us a ride home, Eli, we'll walk. I think you and Clare are in need of having a discussion." Adam said, walking away. Reese stood up a few seconds later, and walked away without a word.

Neither me nor Eli moved for awhile, but eventually Eli broke the silence.

"Come on, I'll drive you home." Eli said harshly. I was confused as to why he was acting as if he was mad at me.

"Eli, why are you mad at me? If anything, I should be mad at you! You can't just go around punching people because you feel like it!" I yelled at him.

"Did you seriously just ask me why I'm mad? I'm mad because you came to the ravine! Of all the places you could've gone, you go to the ravine! That's practically begging for something bad to happen! And I didn't punch him because I felt like it, I punched him because of the things he said to you!" Eli yelled back at me.

"Why are you treating me like I'm some helpless little kid! I can take care of myself, you know." I told him.

His eyes softened a bit at what I said. He proceeded to sit on the ground, and grab both of my hands and drag me down with him. We were sitting across from each other, our knees touching.

" I know that you can take care of yourself. But I really like you, and I'm a guy, so uh, yeah…" Eli said nervously, rubbing the back of his head with his hand.

I was shocked that he had just admitted to liking me, but I was confused with a part of what he said.

" What do you mean "you're a guy"? What does that have to do with anything? You have to remember, I'm not a guy, so I don't know what goes on inside a guy's mind." I said to him. He seemed to take a few minutes to think over his response, but he did eventually say something.

"Well, when a guy likes a girl, he feels a certain need to be there for her. To hold her when she's sad, calm her down when she's upset, and so on. And he also feels a need to protect her. If someone's hurting her, mentally or physically, he stops it. He feels like it's his job to protect her, keeping her safe and out of harms way. He basically just has an overall need to make sure her well-being is good. So if someone happens to hurt or threaten her, he'll probably react in a similar way to how I did with Dumb-Nut earlier.

And although it might seem like an over-reaction to so some people, to the guy, it's just necessary." Eli said.

His words were the sweetest things that I have ever heard. Sure, I'd seen people say similar stuff in movies, but it was nothing compared to hearing it in real life. It nearly brought tears to my eyes to think that he feels this way about me. I suddenly couldn't contain myself any longer and threw myself into his arms in a bear-like hug. He hugged me back with nearly as much intensity.

We stayed like that for a few minutes, until I finally pulled away and rested my head against his chest. He put his arms around me, using one of his hands to stroke my hair. Eventually, I broke the silence.

"I like you too." I mumbled into his chest.

"What?" He asked me questioningly.

"Earlier, you said that you liked me. Well I'm saying that I like you too." I told him.

I felt his chest vibrate with a slight laugh, and I sighed contently at the feeling.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" He whispered into my ear suddenly.

"Of course." I whispered back instantly, not needing to think it over.

"Suddenly, he stood up, pulling me from the ground with him. As we stood side by side, he wrapped his arm around my shoulder, pulling me to him.

"Come on, I'll take you home, girlfriend." He said with a smirk.

I smiled in return and said, "I'd like that, boyfriend." And we made our way out of the ravine, both of us now knowing the true feelings that we have for each other.

**AN: Well that was…. Interesting. Not exactly how I was planning it to go. I don't think it was too horrible, but why don't you tell me in a review about your opinion? That's right, that sexy little button below is calling to you! Don't fight it!**


End file.
